Front

The Dell Streak has a 5-inch WVGA LCD display, which offer a resolution of 800×480 pixels. Like the Apple iPhone 4, the Streak's front panel is made from Corning Gorilla Glass. The Streak is 6.0 inches tall, 3.1 inches wide, 0.4 inches deep, and weighs 7.7 ounces.

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Back

On the back of the Dell Streak, we find the back cover, external speaker, camera lens, and camera flash.

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Designed for landscape position

On the front of the Dell Streak are the LCD screen, ambient light sensor, front-facing camera lens, earpiece, proximity sensors, microphone, and main control buttons (Back, Menu, and Home).

From the orientation of the Back, Menu and Home buttons, it's clear that the Dell designed the Streak to be help in landscape mode when not being used as a phone and help to one's ear.

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Right side

Along the Dell Streak's right side are the power and sleep/wake button, camera button, volume up/down button, and headphone jack.

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Left side

On the Dell Streak's left side, we find the proprietary, 30-pin data/charging port.

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Top

Along the top are the ambient light sensor, front-facing camera lens, earpiece, and proximity sensors.

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Bottom

Along the bottom are the Back button, Menu button, Home button, and microphone.

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Removing the back cover

To remove the back cover, slide it down over the speaker.

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Battery, SIM card, and micro-SD card

With the Dell Streak's back cover removed, we can see the battery, SIM card, and micro-SD card.

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Back cover - External

The Dell Streak's back cover is made of metal.

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Back cover - Internal

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Back cover removed

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Battery - Front

The Dell streak has a 3.7V 1530 mAh (5.66 Whr) rechargeable Li-ion battery with part number 20QF0.

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Battery - Back

There's nothing to see on the back of the Dell Streak's battery.

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Battery, SIM card, and micro-SD card removed

With the battery, SIM card, and micro-SD card removed, we can begin removing the plastic case.

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Remove the top and bottom bezel

The Dell Streak's plastic case is held to the front panel assembly with five T5 Torx screws. Unfortunately, the screws are hidden under the rounded, plastic bezels located on the top and bottom of the Streak. We will need to remove these bezels before removing the screws.

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Removing the top plastic bezel

Using a thin metal blade or plastic case-opening tool, gently pry the first bezel loose. The thin plastic piece is held on with double-sided tape. You should be able to remove the bezel and leave the tape stuck to the plastic case. This will allow you to reattach the bezel when you reassemble the device.

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The top bezel removed

Two T5 Torx screws are located under the top bezel.

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Top bezel

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Removing the bottom bezel

Using the same technique you used earlier, pry loose the bottom bezel. But take care. The bottom bezel houses the Dell Streak's main control buttons and is attached to the device with a thin ribbon cable. At this point, you don't need to remove the cable. Just lift the bezel up enough to reach the three T5 Torx screws located underneath.

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T5 Torx screws

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Removing the T5 Torx screws

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Prying loose the read case

With the five T5 Torx screws removed, gently pry the rear case free from the front panel assembly.

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Front panel assembly and rear case

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Rear case - Internal and buttons

Be careful when separating the rear case from the front panel assembly. The power, camera, and volume up/down buttons are not fastened to the case and will likely fall out.

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Rear case - External

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Camera flash

This small circuit board on the rear case is for the rear-facing camera flash.

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Speaker

The speaker is mounted to the bottom of the Dell Streak's rear case.

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Rear case removed

With the rear case completely removed, we get our first look inside the Dell Streak. While the 5 megapixel camera is clearly visible at the top of the device, most of the main PCB and chips are hidden. We'll need to remove the main PCB for a better look at the Streak's hardware.

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LCD display Ribbon cable

The large ribbon cable with the bar code sticker is likely for the LCD display. It is connected to the main PCB via a gated connector and is attached to the metal shields beneath it with double-sided tape. Once you've released the cable from the connector, gently lift it away from the metal shields.

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Remove the internal plastic bezel

There is a small plastic bezel attached to the bottom of the main PCB and front panel assembly. You should be able to pry this loose using a thin metal blade or plastic spludger.

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Lifting away the internal plastic bezel

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Thin metal strip

This thin metal strip is attached to the internal plastic bezel with a bit of weak adhesive. You should be able to pry the strip loose from the bezel without harming either component.

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Internal plastic bezel - Front

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Internal plastic bezel - Back

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With the internal plastic bezel removed

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Removing the camera connector

Before removing the main PCB from the front panel assembly, we must remove the various component connectors. We'll start with the connector for the front-facing camera.

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Front-facing camera removed

When disconnected from the main PCB, the front-facing camera can be pulled away from the front panel assembly.

Touchscreen connector

Gently lift up the gate on the connector and pull the ribbon cable away from the main PCB.

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Separate the touchscreen cable from the metal shield

The touchscreen's ribbon cable is attached to the metal shield beneath it with a small amount of adhesive. It may take a bit of effort, but you should be able to separate the cable from the shield without damaging the cable or the circuits connected to it.

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Disconnecting the control button cable

Lastly, disconnect the cable for the Dell Streak's control buttons from the main PCB.

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Ready to remove the main PCB

With all the connections removed, we're ready to lift the main PCB away from the Dell Streak's front panel assembly.

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Removing the main PCB

With a thin metal blade or plastic spludger, you can gently pry the main PCB away from the front panel assembly. Take care not to exert too much force on the metal panel that's under the PCB. You don't want to damage the Streak's LCD display, which is fused to the front panel assembly.

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Lifting the main PCB away from the front panel assembly

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Main PCB and front panel assembly

The Dell Streak's c-shaped main PCB next to the front panel assembly.

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Front panel assembly

The Dell Streak's LCD is permanently attached to the front panel's Gorilla glass. You could pry the display and glass away from the front panel assembly, but they are joined with extremely strong adhesive and there's really no reason to do so at this point as it would likely damage one or both of the components.

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5.0 megapixel, rear-facing camera

At the top of the front panel assembly is the rear-facing camera and most of the ribbon cables.

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Front panel assembly bottom

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Main PCB with metal shields - Top

Nearly all of the chips on the Dell Streak's main PCB are covered by thin metal shields. We'll need to remove the shields to see the chips underneath.

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Main PCB - Bottom

On the bottom of the main PCB, you'll find the Dell Streak's microphone, contacts for the capacitive controls on the front panel (Back, Home, and Menu buttons), proximity sensors, and ambient light sensor for the front-facing camera.

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Main PCB with shields removed

The three shields that cover most of the Dell Streak's chips should pop off with a little effort.

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Main PCB - top

On the Dell Streak's main PCB, we find chips from Qualcomm, Analog Devices, Hynix, TriQuint and Texas Instruments.

Texas Instruments TPS65023

Under the center shield is the Texas Instruments TPS65023 Power Management IC for Li-ion-Powered Systems.

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TriQuint 7M5012 and Qualcomm chip

Under the last metal shield is another Qualcomm chip. A TriQuint Semiconductor TMQ7M5012 Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE-Polar Power Amplifier Module is located above it.

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Completely disassembled

Cracking open the Dell Streak wasn't too difficult. The hardest part was prying off the plastic bezels to reveal the five case screws. With the right replacement parts, the Streak is definitely a device that a tech-savvy person could repair.

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Disconnecting the touchscreen connector

After disconnecting both camera connectors, we'll turn our attention to the touchscreen connector and control button connector.

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About Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...

Disclosure

Bill Detwiler has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Full Bio

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.